It has been a difficult summer for Europe. After the economic crisis in Greece rattled EU stability, the worst refugee crisis since World War II is now threatening the Schengen Agreement of 1985, which established the gradual abolition of border checks. While EU heads of state are struggling to find a solution, hundreds of thousands of refugees continue to flood into Europe through any possible breach, on land and sea. Extreme right-wing parties on the continent are exploiting the dire situation to further radicalize their immigration policies, primarily because the average EU citizen believes immigration is the most concerning issue of the day. The horrific story of 60 men, eight women and three children whose bodies were found in a refrigeration truck in Austria on Thursday has grabbed people's attention. Apparently, the deceased were from Syria. They fled one horror only to find a worse one. It is unclear who is more cruel -- Islamic State terrorists or the people who let them across the border with the promise of a better life. In the case of the Syrian refugees, they really aren't seeking a better life, rather just to live. Twenty-four hours prior to the refrigerator truck incident, dozens of refugees drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. As the horrific stories at sea become commonplace, the Europeans need to be aware that if they don't cope with the illegal immigration and refugee problem they are liable to see an increase in similar atrocities. EU leaders are anxious. The sizeable refugee crisis, which has grown significantly worse because of the war in Syria and Iraq, is now undermining one of the EU's fundamental cornerstones -- the aforementioned Schengen Agreement. Many citizens in Germany, France and Great Britain have no faith in the barbed wire fence haphazardly being built by Hungary. The average German citizen is surely thinking to himself: What, after finally absorbing my brothers from the East, I now have to absorb the rest of the world? In all likelihood this is not sitting well with him. In France, far Right leader Marine Le Pen has already declared the need to end all immigration -- legal and illegal. Newspaper headlines in Britain are also testifying to Europe's considerable anxiety. For anyone who has forgotten, incidentally: The EU won the Nobel Peace Prize several years ago. The refugees are today are calling that prize into question. Europe now needs to decide what to do. Perhaps the need is for a joint solution, whereby countries will share the burden together; or perhaps every country will seek to cope with the problem on its own -- which of course could potentially lead to the far right rising to power in an EU member state. It would also be remiss not to address the EU's foreign policy mistakes, aided by the United States, which have contributed to the crisis. In the name of a promised democracy, the EU helped topple Gadhafi in Libya, greatly increasing the number of refugees. In Syria, meanwhile, in the name of some far-fetched hope for stability, Assad has not been toppled and 4 million Syrian refugees are the result. And, as we know, when mistakes are made the piper must be paid.
